wauwatosafandomcom-20200214-history
Leverett Wheeler
Leverett Case Wheeler (November 17, 1865 — May 15, 1948), was the son of Pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Lyman Wheeler. Biography Leverett C. Wheeler was born November seventeenth, 1865, on a farm which lay between West Center Street and West North Avenue, and North 50th. and North 60th. Streets in the Town of Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, the house facing on Lisbon Avenue. He was of the ninth generation of Wheelers descended from George Wheeler who arrived in Concord, Massachusetts in 1635. Leverett died at the family home in Wauwatosa, May 15th, 1948, at the age of eighty-two. His father, Lyman Wheeler, was an early pioneer here and came by boat from New England in 1836 to Green Bay, Wisconsin, which was the end of the boat line. Shipping his mill-wright's tools by pack boat to Milwaukee, he walked fifty miles a day southerly through the woods to see the country and find a place for a home. He selected a farm-site at the northwest corner of the intersection of Wauwatosa Avenue with Hampton Road, the whole area being then deep forest. He later sold this site and moved with his first wife and family to the Lisbon Avenue property. There his first wife died, and he later married Betsey Grover Conover, a widow. Lyman and Betsey had three children: Lyman Grover Wheeler, Leverett Case Wheeler, and Marion Belle Wheeler who became Mrs. J. D. Buckingham. Leverett attended the district school at the corner of North Avenue and Lisbon Avenue during winter months, spent a term or two at the 16th Ward school on West Kilbourn Avenue and North 18th Street, and then went to Wauwatosa High School. His school attendance was interrupted by the pressure of farm duties. When his father died, he took charge of the farm and milk route. After four years, it became possible to resume his education and he was admitted to the University of Wisconsin upon passing oral examinations, although he had not finished High School. However, he received his High School diploma later. He often recalled applying to Professor Allan of the University History Department for permission to take an examination in History to complete his High School credits in that subject. Professor Allan asked, "Where did you study history?" "I never studied it." "How do you expect to pass a test in it then?" "We had many history books at home and I liked history so I read and reread them." For an hour Professor Allan informally discussed with Lev all phases of history. Then, as students were gather ing for a recitation, he indicated that the interview was over Lev asked when he might return for his examination. "You have had your examination replied the Pro- fessor, and have passed." When Lev graduated from the University in 1891 he was offered two fellowships one in Economics and o in History. He refused both, as he was eager to study law and take up his life work. The History honor was un- expected in view of his lack of f ormal High School preparation. L. C. was a member of Hesperian Literary Society and participated in the "Sophomore Semi Public He took part in two great Joint Debates, his team winning both on the Tariff in 1890 and on Immigration in 1891. In those days the Joint Debates were as intensely exciting to the student body as athletic contests are now. L. C. spent most of his Junior and Senior years studying for these de bates, which gave him intensive work in economic subjects. In 1893, two years after he graduated "on the hill," he received his diploma in law, and entered into partnership with James B. Erwin in Milwaukee for the practice of patent law, in which he served with distinction for fifty-four years. In 1894, he married Adele M. Graves of Appleton, Wisconsin, who survives him. There were two children of this marriage, his son and law partner, S. Lawrence Wheeler of Wauwatosa, and a daughter, Catherine (Mrs E. Donald) Ralph of Hartland, Wisconsin. There are eight grandchildren: Barbara, David, Nancy, Allan, Rich- ard and Timothy Wheeler, and William Wheeler Ralph and Catherine Adele Ralph. April 1, 1900, he brought his wife and two young children to live in Wauwatosa, moving at that time into the home in which he spent the rest of his life. Leverett was quite amused when he learned that Adele's ancestor, Benjamin Graves, was in Capt. Tom Wheeler's Company of twenty-five men in King Philip's War in 1675, hundred years before the Revolution. "That is one the train a wife," he would say "establish her allegiance two or three hundred years before you marry her." For seventeen years he was a member of the School Board of the City. In a now famous report about 1920, when the population of Wauwatosa was around 3,000, he predicted to a mass meeting of citizens that within twenty years "a of population will sweep over the hills until wave Milwaukee and Wauwatosa will meet at a common boun gested possible school sites to accommo- date the increasing population needs, urging the City to urchase, while prices low. specified tracts of lands were purposes and to supply adequate play g Eventually the sites he recommended were acquired, although the areas purchased were not as large as he urged. L. C. served on committees in the First World War, spending many of his evenings giving "four minute talks" in theatres and other public meetings urging support of the Government's effort to promote the sale of war bonds. In 1921, he purchased a peninsula on the Upper Eagle waters in Oneida County, near Three Lakes, Wisconsin. For twenty-seven years he spent his summers on the "Isle O' Dreams, as this tract is called, and cherished it as a second home. He had deep sense of beauty, and visions of what he might do with this 144 acre tract. Although many of his dreams were never realized, his hospitality was extended over the years to many friends who found inspiration, rest and comfort in his genial company as well as in the beauty and healing of the mountain air, the virgin forests and the great expanse of waters. He set aside twenty-seven acres of cut-over land to re-forest. By practice, he learned how to ensure survival of the little pines he transplanted. Thousands of baby pines he planted and nursed, some now thirty feet high, will be a perpetual memorial to him. He devoted much study to forestry and the question of the water supply of the entire Mississippi Valley. He has written a booklet, "Rivers That Run Up Hill", which he had planned to publish after the war was over. At the of age of seventy he retired from almost all purely social clubs saying he proposed to be free to pursue his hobbies in his spare time. He retained his professional contacts however. He took keen delight in the forty-year-old Lawyers' Saturday Noon Club of which he was a charter member. At the time of his death he was also a member of State and County Bar Associations and the Patent Law Associations. He was very proud of his Masonic connections. He was a Past Master of Wauwatosa Lodge No. 267 F&A.M. and was also a member of Kilbourn Chapter No. 1 R.A.M. and Kilbourn Council No. 9 R&S M. His intelligence, integrity, and sense of responsibility made him a valued member of his patent law firm and a desirable member of society. He had the New England virtues of uprightness, thrift, dependability, and a high sense of responsibility. He was brought up to "hoe out his row" and always finished his work before leaving it. He met every obligation on time and always tried faithfully to understand the other fellow's point of view. Great questions of the day intrigued him and he attacked them with vision and energy. In the early nineteen-twenties he was appointed on a committee to study crime and make recommendations on remedies. The committee urged formation of a State Police force. He was of a very studious nature, very modest and retiring, but most active mentally, constantly studying and writing. Early in his manhood he wrote a book on behavior problems antedating modern theories of such subjects as "How to Acquire Self-control." He studied Genetics and made his own charts to illustrate his lectures which were in demand throughout the State for club programs and church meetings. His figures on the alarming decline of birth-rates among the better classes of people, in contrast with the enormous families of morons, criminals, and subversives, were most impressive and never to be forgotten. He hoped to stir young people to the correct choice of their mates, not only for their own but also to improve the race. He often referred to advice given him by own father on selecting a wife from a family with a record of health and high moral and intellectual standards. He student of the Bible and could speak with was a great authority on the Scriptures. His familiarity with the Bible was a source of great satisfaction to him. He was very fond of poetry—especially Tennyson's—and he frequently quoted at length from Shakespeare and other poets. He had an unusual sense of humor which made him an entertaining conversationalist, and his letters were most amusing as well as original and wise. His was an essentially spiritual nature and his fine philosophy of life gave him a tranquillity and peace of mind that were the envy of his friends. A pine tree was planted in his memory in the garden of the historic Damon home centennial grounds, and a shrub beside the door of the family home. Gifts in his honor were presented to the Milwaukee Boys Club, the Curative Workshop and the Wisconsin Home and Farm School for Boys at Dousman. Books on genetics, history, poetry, and other subjects of his interest were donated to Public Libraries, that students along these lines may know that Leverett C. Wheeler pioneered here also. Category:1865 births Category:Persons of Note